Car Rental in the Azores
Bom dia todos!
I finally did it. Out of nine islands, I’ve only visited five so far, but that’s a great start. I’ll add links to my posts about the Azores here once I finish them, but for now, let’s start with the most important and essential thing for traveling around the Azores — renting a car. Because without a car, there’s really nothing to do there.
There are probably some public buses, but they definitely don’t take you to the interesting spots. Or maybe they don’t even exist. Portugal is just one of those countries where you’re very limited in your travels without a car. There are taxis on all the islands, but they’re few and the prices are steep. No Ubers or Bolts — just calling private numbers, which are different on every island. Licensed taxis, but you deal directly with the driver.
For example, I arrived by ferry from São Jorge to Pico at some secondary port. There wasn’t a single taxi at the port. The rental office was at the airport. I had to go to the nearest bar just to get them to call a taxi for me. So if you don’t have a driver’s license, before going to the Azores — go and learn!
What you need to rent
Passport, driver’s license, and a bank card. For the company I rented from and recommend, a credit card isn’t necessary — you can use a debit card.
Which car to choose
All the islands have great roads to all the locations. Take any car — you’ll get around without any problems. On the five islands I visited, I drove five different cars — old and new: Nissan Micra, Renault Clio, and Renault Captur.
Where to rent a car
The first thing I did was check prices on the broker site Discover Cars. You enter the name of the capital of the island you’re going to, and the system will pick the airport and port. For comparison, I also checked prices if you book directly with the rental company Ilha Verde.
Booking through a broker turned out to be significantly cheaper. All the airport and port fees were already included. In the end, I booked rentals on all the islands through DiscoverCars, but I always chose Ilha Verde as the rental company. Because they have offices on every island — and that’s important!
The thing is, you can’t drive a car from one island to another. There’s no ferry service connecting all the islands, so somewhere you’ll have to fly. And the ferries that do connect islands are small — visually, there’s space for maybe 4–5 cars, and that’s for locals. Of course, you could rent from different companies on each island, but then you’d need a separate deposit for each one, which isn’t always returned immediately after the rental ends—it can take a couple of days.
I visited five islands and used Ilha Verde everywhere. On the first island, Terceira, the rental office blocked €1,200 on my card as a deposit, and after that, I just showed that receipt on the other islands. As the staff said, this is normal practice.
On Faial and São Miguel, the staff, in addition to the receipt, wanted to copy my card details and save them in their system. I firmly said no, and after a short back-and-forth, they agreed to accept just a copy of the receipt. I recommend doing the same. Let them see that the card used for the deposit is in your possession — that’s fine — but copying and storing the details is not.
When you pick up the car, be sure to take photos of every part of it! From all sides, as many as possible. At two offices, the staff didn’t even do a joint inspection — here are the keys, the car’s in the parking lot, all scratches are already listed (of course, not all), so take photos just in case, and happy travels.
Credit where it’s due: Ilha Verde inspected the car upon return, but they didn’t nitpick. Even though I had 50 photos of the car from every angle, there was never any fuss over “what’s this 5mm scratch?”
Azores specifics
Pick up your car as soon as you arrive on any island. Return it to the point from which you’ll continue your journey.
Here’s the deal: you arrive on Faial by plane, and next you plan to take a ferry to Pico, so pick-up is at Horta Airport, and drop-off is at Horta port. An island can have several ports, so check on atlanticoline.pt where your ferry arrives/departs. That’s what all tourists do — rental offices are at all arrival points. Ilha Verde has the largest fleet, so expect queues! Don’t dawdle when you get off the plane or ferry; go quickly to the office — it’s right in the building as you exit, hard to miss.
Insurance
I didn’t take full insurance, I use third-party services. But if you need it, it would cost about €24 extra per day. On Discover Cars, you can also add full coverage during booking — it’s cheaper than buying directly. You’ll still need to pay the deposit, then, if anything happens (knock on wood), cover the repair, and submit everything to Discover Cars for reimbursement.
Parking
In the centers of the larger (by island standards) towns, parking is paid. But on a nearby street, you can usually find a free spot. So you can choose any hotel—it doesn’t have to have its own parking. Somewhere, you’ll find a place to park.
In Ponta Delgada — the capital of São Miguel — street parking in the center is paid everywhere. There are also many underground garages. Hotels offer their own private parking, usually a bit cheaper.
But here’s a catch! City parking is paid only from 08:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, and on Saturdays from 08:00 to 13:00. At other times, including holidays, parking is free.
15 min – €0.15 | 30 min – €0.30 | 60 min – €0.60 | 120 min – €1.20 | 180 min – €1.80 | 240 min – €2.40
Payment can be made in cash at the meters or via the IParque Driver app.
I arrived on a Saturday evening, and Monday was Azores Day (besides nationwide holidays in Portugal, there are regional ones too). For me, parking was only paid on Tuesday from 8 to 10 a.m., then I drove around the island and returned at 19:10. I paid €1.20, whereas if I had accepted the hotel’s offer at check-in, it would have been €16.
Fuel
When renting, the fuel policy is full/full — you pick up the car with a full tank and return it full. I highly recommend checking that the tank is actually full when you pick up the car. Twice, my cars weren’t full on arrival; I took a photo and returned them the same way — no questions asked.
There are plenty of gas stations on every island, so refueling isn’t a problem. Moreover, you won’t rack up many kilometers, so the fuel gauge might barely move. Rental offices have notices for this: if you drive less than 100 km during the rental, you need to show a fuel receipt when returning the car, otherwise you’ll be charged €18. So it’s best to keep your receipt or drive more than 100 km. On average, I topped up about 10 liters.
Roads
All roads are free, with good asphalt, nothing special. A couple of times I had to drive on proper gravel. If you see an interesting viewpoint on Google Maps with lots of reviews, but the road to it goes through some ravines, you’ve probably gone the wrong way. In separate posts about specific islands, I’ll add the spots that are definitely worth visiting.
A “miradouro” sign on a brown background means there’s something beautiful or a point of interest. All viewpoints have easy access, and some are equipped with rest areas — so you can enjoy the scenery in comfort.
